Peter Fojtu,
Mark Brown,
Gunnar Jacob
Biography

 Born in Geneva, Switzerland on June 12, 1712
 One brother named François
 Mother died during childbirth
 Father was a watchmaker, exiled from Geneva
 At young age was inspired by his family
 He loved to read from an early age
 Dropped out of school at the age of twelve
Biography

 He ran away from Geneva in 1728
 Failed at several different trades
 His adopter was a wealthy widow
 Rousseau received a rudimentary education
 In 1761, he wrote the novel, La’ Nouvelle Heloise
 Published The Social Contract in 1762, along with his
novel Emile
 Died on 2 July, 1778
 Legacy of “the idea of general will”
Philosophical ideas

 Believed that people are good when they are born
 Bad people have been corrupted by society
 Believed that people should not govern themselves
 Believed that people are self centered
 How a person is raised greatly affects how they are
 Civilization should be seen as slowly decaying
Beliefs in Government

 Everyone must be free
 Claims that monarchy is always the strongest,
necessary in all states in times of crisis
 Claims that aristocracy, or rule by the few, is most
stable
 Believed that a truly free government is one where
everyone votes
 Believed that people should not put their
ambitions first
 All citizens committed to the common good
Opinion

 Effected the French Revolution through his literature
 The French were diplomatic friends with the English
colonies
 His novels inspired education for everyone
 "Man is born free, everywhere else he is in chains”
(Rousseau)
 He believed that people should practice
representative assembly
Citations

 "JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU." JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agexed/aee501/rousseau.html>.
 Bertram, Christopher. "Jean Jacques Rousseau." (Stanford Encyclopedia
of Philosophy). Stanford Encyclopedia of Psychology, 2010. Web.
13 Oct. 2012. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rousseau/>.
 "Jean-Jacques Rousseau - Biography." Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The
European Graduate School, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.egs.edu/library/jean-jacquesrousseau/biography/>.
 Delaney, James. "Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy." Rousseau,
Jean-Jacques []. N.p., 21 Oct. 2005. Web. 14 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.iep.utm.edu/rousseau/>.
 "Internet History Sourcebooks." Internet History Sourcebooks. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/rousseaucontract2.asp>.